Regarding Emelin, just like PK, Weber, and even forward Lars Eller, under a JM system these players are told to keep it simple, learn the defensive side of the game first and then once that has settled the rest will sort itself out. Like another poster mentioned after 20~ games we will start to see his physical side more and he won't be getting caught out of position or costing us games all the time when he does it.

I actually like this coaching staffs approach with kids. It isn't great for them statistically but it gives them time to develop more physically, get used to the flow of NHL hockey and not cost their team games. The offensive side of things will come once they learn the defensive side of things. It puts zero pressure on guys like Weber to put up points but rather helps them become better all around players.

Our previous coaching staff did something similar with Streit, they even played him as a forward to get him in there gradually and put him in less positions to hurt the team. In my opinion that is smart, and then once he was ready he became a full time D and eventually played with Markov. Now look at Streit today... he's a future Markov. Can't really complain about the results thus far.

tl;dr version is that Weber, Emelin and Diaz just need time to adjust and be given time to learn the defensive side of the game first. The physical and offensive side will all come because these players already know that side of the game. It's perfecting their NHL timing and not being caught out of position (defense) they need to learn.